ETD: 703 Attracting new customers; Is there an excess
inventory site?;ACCI Retail Summit Presentation; M&A; Low-Cost
High-Tech Blueprints for Small Biz
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post@gapent.com
Tue, 15 Jul 2003 07:18:57 -0400
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0703 July 15, 2003
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem@gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
==================================================================
CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] Attracting new customers
[3] Is there an excess inventory site?
[4] ACCI Retail Summit Presentation
[5] M&A
[6] Low-Cost High-Tech Blueprints for Small Biz
==================================================================
[1] Greetings.
==================================================================
Hi All:
We have some very interesting material today. More on disposing
inventory. And new material on business in general.
I also wrote a compilation on attracting new customers, and would like your
comments. What works for you?
How's the summer (Northern Hemisphere) going for you? How's business
doing? I would also like to hear from our Southern Hemisphere members as
to how the winter season if for you. It's a hard concept for us to think
that July and August are winter, and that Christmas is summer.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
Dr. George Matyjewicz
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem@gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
==================================================================
[2] Attracting new customers
==================================================================
List member Lee Levitt sends a newsletter from the Acelera Group and the
latest issue deals with attracting new customers. In it he refers to the
sales funnel as touted by Symantec and others at many conferences.
http://www.aceleragroup.com/images/symantecsalesfunnel.jpg
The logic used is the more prospects you throw into the hopper, the more
customers you attract, i.e., it's a numbers game. Unfortunately too many
people misinterpret this funnel, and believe you just need volume - get the
leads. The problem there is you waste too much time chasing leads that are
not of value.
Lee isn't suggesting that you seek leads for volume. Rather you need to
find qualified prospects, ideally that company that is beginning to
consider a purchase - the low hanging fruit, as list member Jim D'Arcangelo
states.
Let each level of the sales funnel do its job and don't rush things. If you
try to rush the prospect through the funnel or do things out of order, you
will lose that prospect. "The goal of your demand generation program
should be to start your "ideal" prospects through your selling process --
make your prospect aware of your product or service, interest them in your
product or service, build desire for that product or service, and get them
to act on that desire," says Lee.
My favorite book is "High Probability Selling" by Jacques Werth which
describes a process for qualifiying prospects so that you target those
where you have the highest probability of selling, i.e., those who have a
need, have money and want your offering. Too often the measurement is how
many "leads" we have, rather than qualified prospects.
Trade shows are a way to attract prospects. But, are they there to see
what you have to offer or are they there for the free gifts? At our last
show in Las Vegas, we had 135 people visit our booth, which many would
consider prospects, whereby they should be suspects. Out of those 135, 22
were interested in our offerings - prospects. While I may put all 135 in
the sales funnel, I know that the 22 are more serious, and we will focus
out attention on them.
So what do you do with suspects, i.e., the 113 left from above? You keep
in touch with them, perhaps with a newsletter (ideal) or with frequent
mailings. They may become a prospect, but shouldn't be your major focus now.
Then again, some folks don't know they are looking. Two personal
examples: I recently got a new car, even though I didn't think I was ready
for six months (left on my lease). The dealer wouldn't let me out the door
until he could satisfy my needs.
One of my first sales jobs after getting out of the Army was selling pots
and pans door-to-door. It was a great job, because our target was single
women between the ages of 18 and 25 (sigh <grin>). When we sold a deal, we
asked for five friends of that girl, and promised her a gift if they
bought, as well as giving a gift to the friend just for seeing us. Those
were qualified leads. And what I learned was the girl (and her mother) who
said she doesn't want anything was the one who would buy (low sales
resistance).
So, what do you think? What works for you?
George
PS Lee's newsletter http://www.aceleragroup.com/newsletter.htm Jacques'
High Probability Selling http://www.highprobsell.com/
==================================================================
[3] Is there an excess inventory site?
==================================================================
In response to an excess inventory site. I own a URL called,
MailOrderClearance.com that I someday wanted to set up for this function.
If anyone would like to be a partner with me on such a site let me know.
Best regards,
John Schulte
President and Chairman
National Mail Order Association
Email: schulte@nmoa.org
www.nmoa.org
Direct Marketing Discussions at: www.DMchat.com
==================================================================
[4] ACCI Retail Summit Presentation
==================================================================
I will be giving two talks at the ACCI (Association of Crafts & Creative
Industries) Retail Summit on July 17 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention
Center, Rosemont, IL. My talks are entitled:
- Why People Buy Things They Don't Need: So You Can Sell More
- Connecting with the Consumer: The New Retailing Challenge.
For more information about attending the ACCI Show 2003 contact 888-360-224
or visit www.ACCIcrafts.org.
If you would like me to address your upcoming meeting, visit my website
below to learn more about the different topics available for your group:
http://www.whypeoplebuy.com/topics/summary.html
Sincerely,
Pam Danziger
717-336-1600, FAX 717-336-1601
www.unitymarketingonline.com
www.whypeoplebuy.com
==================================================================
[5] M&A
==================================================================
There were some interesting mergers and acquisitions this week.
The big story is Yahoo!'s $1.63 billion purchase of Overture Services, the
paid-search business
--businesses pay to advertise on the page delivering answers to search
queries.. http://www.content.overture.com/d/home/ For $287 million in
cash and about 7% of its stock, Yahoo! continues to improve a growing part
of its business and picks up a profitable business (Overture, at the end of
March, had $108 million in cash on its books).
http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=OVER&script=410&layout=0&item_id=430830
Boise Cascade, once known as a paper product manufacturer, but with an
increasing presence in office products, says it will buy retailer OfficeMax
for $1.2 billion in cash and stock, which represents a 25% premium over
OfficeMax's Friday share price, and an 80% premium over the share price as
of three months ago. The goal of the transaction from Boise's point of view
is to increase its distribution channel for its office products line.
http://www.forbes.com/2003/07/14/cx_da_0714topnews.html
PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards get antitrust OK. Federal regulators said on
Monday that the pending merger of PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards is not anti
competitive, clearing the way for the friendly $1.7 billion deal and
frustrating Oracle's desire to acquire PeopleSoft in a separate, hostile
takeover bid. Oracle, in response to the U.S. Department of Justice
decision, announced it will still proceed with its hostile bid for
PeopleSoft and will extend its deadline for PeopleSoft investors to tender
their shares. PeopleSoft shareholders will now have until Aug. 15 to tender
their shares, rather than this Friday.
http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-1025505.html?tag=fd_top
==================================================================
[6] Low-Cost High-Tech Blueprints for Small Biz
==================================================================
Keith Regan wrote this excellent article in E-Commerce Times. I snipped
most of it, and urge you to review the details online. Good stuff.
To a small-business owner, choosing technology can be daunting. On one
hand, the latest gadgets can glitter like a well-stocked toy store, with
vendors promising to put a company on the cutting edge. On the other,
budget constraints mean purchases must pay for themselves in the long run.
So, what is the best way to ensure that technology outlays will be money
well spent? Although answers to this question can vary widely based on a
firm's industry niche, employee base and maturity, experts say that for
every growing business, there is a perfect technology recipe. The key is
finding and exploiting it.
Customer's View
Les Wanninger, a professor at the University of Minnesota, said small
businesses should start by identifying what their customers want them to do
better. Chances are that salespeople or employees who handle complaints
already know what these things are, he told the E-Commerce Times.
For far less than US$5,000, for example, a working Web site can be set up
and even maintained for two to three years, according to Wanninger. Other
options include adding outsourced or hosted customer-service applications
to existing Web sites. Such products, which are offered by
KnowledgeBase.net, among other companies, start at less than $5,000 and can
pay dividends by reducing the number of customer calls made to an
employee-strapped company.
Think Long Term
One of the hardest aspects of deciding where to invest money is determining
accurately how much a purchase will cost over the long run. Research firm
Gartner estimates that even for a device as simple as a desktop PC, 80
percent of the total cost of ownership (TCO) is attributable to management,
administration and upkeep over the machine's lifetime. The PC's ticket
price represents just 20 percent of TCO.
"Firms can get bitten by the back-end costs at times, especially those that
have less experience with buying technology," Steven Toole, vice president
of marketing at small business ERP vendor Icode, told the E-Commerce Times.
"Larger vendors have been slow to evolve their offerings for smaller
companies, so there is danger there if they go in without knowing what
they're getting."
For instance, a PC will require updated virus protection and other software
updates during its lifetime. Networks probably will need even more
attention than PCs from a security and operational standpoint. Also, buying
group licenses for a variety of software programs can prove costly when it
comes time to renew those licenses, Toole added.
Details at...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/perl/story/21798.html
==================================================================
Links to follow
==================================================================
GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.gapent.com/
Sarbanes-Oxley 2002 http://www.sarbanes-oxley2002.com
E-Tailer's Digest http://www.etailersdigest.com
ETD Archives: http://topica.com/lists/etailer/read
Prior to 29 Dec
1999 http://etailersdigest.com/archives/index.htm
Marketing Your Web http://www.gapent.com/myweb/
Automated Press Releases http://www.automatedpr.com